Box Score MEDFORD – The No. 3 Tufts men's basketball team made a second half comeback behind 17 second half points from junior Vincent Pace to take a 75-71 win over No. 23 WPI in Cousens Gym on Tuesday night. Pace finished with 23 points and five rebounds to lead the Jumbos to their fifth win of the season.
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| Tarik Smith has scored double digit points in all five games this year. |
With the win the Jumbos, who moved up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll, improve to 5-0. The loss is the first of the season for the Engineers, as they drop to 4-1 on the year.
The Engineers led for all of the first half, as Sean Doncaster scored 17 first half points to help give the visitors a 36-28 lead at the half. Doncaster would score the first points of the game with a three, and the Engineers held on to that lead for the duration of the first half.
With 12:34 remaining in the half, and the Engineers ahead by ten, a layup by freshman Eric Savage followed by two points from Pace and then two free throws and a dunk from Savage got the Jumbos within two, 21-18. The Engineers would respond with 13 points, 11 of those from Doncaster, and they took a 36-28 advantage into the half.
It was the Jumbos that came out on fire in the second half. Junior Ben Engvall sunk two free throws to open up second half scoring, and then sophomore Ethan Feldman drained a three to bring the Jumbos within three, 36-33. Feldman added a layup about two minutes later that helped the Jumbos creep within one, 36-35. But, the Engineers would not give up, and found their offensive stride, growing their lead to ten, 52-42 with 12:50 left in the second half.
Junior KJ Garret made one of two free throws with 12:42 left, Pace followed that with five points to bring the Jumbos within four, 52-48. After two Engineer points, Pace made a three and junior Everett Dayton added a free throw to bring the Jumbos within two, 54-52, with 10:38 left. On his second free throw, Dayton missed, but got his own offensive rebound and then made a jump shot to tie the game at 54 with 10:35 left in the second half.
The Engineers took the lead once again, but a three from Pace and a three point play from Engvall gave the Jumbos their first lead of the day 61-60 with 6:03 remaining. The Engineers tied it again at 62 and Pace once again responded with a three, giving the Jumbos a 65-62 advantage that they would not let go of. The Jumbos would lead by as many as six, 69-63, but a Doncaster three brought the Engineers back in the game 69-66 with 1:36 remaining. That would be as close as the Engineers would get, as Dayton turned in a key block, and the Jumbos defense was strong in the end of the game to seal the 75-71 win.
Pace led the Jumbos with 23 points and five rebounds, while Smith added 16 points. Smith has now tallied double digit points in all five of the Jumbos games this season. Senior Tom Palleschi helped with seven points, six blocks and five rebounds. Savage finished with nine points off the bench for the Jumbos, and Garrett was instrumental off the bench turning in some strong defensive play.
Doncaster was the offensive leader for the Engineers, finishing with 28 points, which is a new career high for the Medford, Mass. native. Aaron Todd added 15 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Chris Rodgers and Ian Converse both finished with nine points for the Engineers.
The Jumbos will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Brandeis to play in the Big Four Challenge with Brandeis, Babson and Salem State. They open play in the tournament on Friday with a 7:30 pm tip-off against Brandeis. WPI takes the court again on Thursday when they travel to Framingham State for a 6 pm start.
